On Gaza

Israel bombs University
“Gaza’s interior ministry and Islamic University were the latest targets.” (Read more from news.bbc.co.uk)

Israel kills scores in Gaza air strikes
“GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli warplanes pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 229 people in one of the bloodiest days for the Palestinians in 60 years of conflict with the Jewish state.” (Read more from reuters.com)

Gaza facing ‘critical emergency’
“The UN has warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing a serious health and food crisis, as Israeli air strikes continued for a seventh day.” Read more from news.bbc.co.uk

Jewish Organizations Call For End to Gaza Bombings
“As Israeli air strikes continue to pummel the Gaza Strip for a fourth day and crude homemade rockets launched by Palestinian militants land in Israeli towns near the densely populated and besieged Strip, Jewish groups in the U.S. are taking two distinctly differing tacks at addressing the latest Middle East bloodshed.

Some of what are traditionally thought of as pro-Israel groups are undertaking a major public relations campaign to support the bombing runs against Hamas that have claimed more than 370 Palestinian lives – largely parroting the Israeli government line that the attacks are a justified defense of Israelis. . . .

But instead of offering unquestioning support of Israel’s latest military venture in the decades-long conflict, four major Jewish organizations are calling for an immediate end to the bombings, and for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.” (Read more from antiwar.com)

Iranian Jews protest Gaza ‘slaughter’
“Different groups representing Iran’s Jewish community on Tuesday gathered in front of the United Nations office in Teheran in order to protest “Israeli war crimes and the slaughter of the innocent people in Gaza Strip,” the Iranian IRNA news agency reported. The protesters, led by the Jewish representative in Parliament, Siamak Mara-Sedq, carried placards with anti-Israel slogans in both Farsi and Hebrew, the report said. ” (Read more from jpost.com)

Israel mounts PR campaign to blame Hamas for Gaza destruction
“So, while the military marshalled its forces, the foreign ministry honed its message and amassed its staff, ready for Saturday’s attack. Israeli diplomats were recalled from holidays and ordered back to work and in the rocket-bombarded southern Israeli town of Sderot, on Gaza’s northern perimeter, it opened a multilingual media centre to brief foreign journalists. . . .” (Read more from guardian.co.uk)

Israel to mount emergency international PR effort in wake of Gaza campaign
(Read more from Haaretz.com)

White House backs Israel’s attacks on Gaza Strip
(Read more from news.yahoo.com)

Violent protests at Israeli Embassy in London
“Violent confrontations broke out at the Israeli Embassy in London today as up to 1,500 protesters against Israel’s Gaza campaign gathered in a vociferous demonstration. Campaign supporters, Palestinians and British Muslims stood on the pavement of High Street Kensington, west London, and chanted in unison: “Five, six, seven, eight – Israel is a terror state.”” (Read more from timesonline.co.uk)

Protests in NYC
(Pictures at desertpeace.wordpress.com)

Israeli, foreign press more free than America’s on Gaza
“In the usual process, the U.S. government, media here – and most liberal bloggers – are silent or playing down questions about whether Israel overreacted in its massive air strikes on Gaza, while the foreign press, and even Haaretz in Israel, carries more balanced accounts.

Anyone who cares should consult the respected Haaretz site often, if for no other reason than to learn that criticism of Israeli military actions are usually more heated inside that country than in the USA. You may recall the lockstep support (in the U.S.) for Israeli’s invasion of southern Lebanon, which included the use of U.S.-made cluster bombs.” (Read more from huliq.com)

Israeli troops mobilize as Gaza assault widens
“Israel widened its deadliest-ever air offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers Sunday, pounding smuggling tunnels and a central prison, sending more tanks and artillery toward the Gaza border and approving a reserves callup for a possible ground invasion.” (Read more from news.yahoo.com)

Gaza’s desperate hospitals overwhelmed by casualties
“Two of Gaza’s highest-ranking security officials are among the victims of Israeli airstrikes. Medical personnel scramble to treat the wounded in facilities left low on supplies by a blockade.” (Read more from latimes.com)

See Also: Sabbah Blog

On Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme

I guess I’m sorry for the charities who lost their money, but with rumors of a $250k minimum to join Madoff’s scheme, it included many of the filthy rich Wall Street types. I keep thinking of the scene at the end of Orwell’s Animal Farm. The animals watch their oppressors – humans who look like pigs, and pigs who look like humans – playing cards. A great squabble erupting two players simultaneously play an ace of spades.

– Overview:

– Madoff: “I’m very close to regulators.”

– SEC Ignored Madoff Scheme whistleblower!
Here’s a tiny sampling of what Markopolos told the SEC in his 21-page November 7, 2005 letter:

“I am a derivatives expert and have traded or assisted in the trading of several billion $US in options strategies for hedge funds and institutional clients. . . (Highly Likely) Madoff Securities is the world’s largest Ponzi Scheme. . . The [Madoff] family runs what is effectively the world’s largest hedge fund with estimated assets under management of at least $20 billion to perhaps $50 billion.”

– Madoff bought influence in Washington Within a day of the Dec. 11 arrest of Wall Street financier Bernard L. Madoff, his Washington lobbyists were scrambling to sever all ties to a man who’s been accused of a $50 billion fraud and who may go down in history as the largest financial scam artist ever.

– List of victims
HSBC HSBC’s direct exposure is believed to be about $1bn in loans provided to clients who invested some $500m of their own funds in Mr Madoff’s venture.
Access International $1.4 billion
Fortis Bank $1.4 billion
Man Group’s RMF division has about $350m invested. (FT)
Tremont Capital Fund of funds. $3.3 billion invested. (FT)
Pioneer Investments, an arm of Italy’s UniCredit, had “substantially all” of $835m invested with Madoff. (FT)
Union Bancaire Privet: $1.1 billion
Benbasset & Cie: $935 million
BBVA: $404 million
Maxam Capital Management LLC. Combined loss of $280 million. “I’m wiped out,” said Sandra Manzke, Maxam’s founder and chairman. The Darien, Conn., fund of hedge funds will have to close as a result of the losses, she said. (WSJ)
Fairfield Greenwich Group. Bloomberg: The biggest loser may be Walter Noel’s Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Ltd. invested with Madoff’s eponymous firm, three people familiar with the matter said.
Kingate Management Ltd. Bloomberg says $2.8 billion Kingate Global Fund Ltd. invested with Madoff.
Santander. WSJ: The eurozone’s largest bank by market value, said its clients had an exposure of €2.33 billion ($3.1 billion). €2 billion belongs to institutional investors and international clients of its private-banking business, which provides services to wealthy individuals, it said. The remaining €320 million belongs to private-banking customers in Spain, where Santander is based.
el.”
Members of half-a-dozen country clubs: WSJ: “Mr. Madoff tapped social networks in Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis. . . . investors from the two clubs may have invested more than $100 million combined.
(. . . and more)

– Did Barnard Madoff act alone? (Fortune) — Like the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman, the theory that Bernard Madoff acted alone is hard to swallow.

True, Madoff has allegedly confessed that he perpetrated a massive fraud that left behind $50 billion in losses; and he claimed to have done this all alone.

– See also: The 10 nastiest ponzi schemes ever.

Five Predictions for 2009

1) The price for an ounce of Gold will again surpass $1000. This time, it’ll stay over $1000.

2) More of the same under Obama:
     -More war. Our presence in Iraq will continue. At best, there’ll be a decrease in troop levels. Troop levels in Afghanistan will increase. We’ll continue to have a military presence in about 130 of the world’s 190 countries. Only national bankruptcy, or the destruction of the dollar will bring the troops home. We may see the beginnings of this, but I don’t predict it’ll happen in 2009.
     -More government. Size and spending will increase under Obama.
     -More invasiveness. Washington will continue domestic spying, harassment, and illegal detention. The patriot act will not be fully revoked. US troops will take on an increased domestic role.
     -More support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Despite lip-service, Obama’s administration will continue financing, supporting and excusing the longest military occupation in history.

3) States and municipalities will consider bankruptcy.

4) The retail industry will be ravaged. It’ll never again be as it was.

5) The fault line will deepen between power and liberty. Despite Big Media’s best effort, the left vs. right paradigm will become less relevant. Expect increased tension over taxes, right to protest, right to bear arms, freedom of speech.

***

Last year’s predictions:

1) Corporate Media will believe their own propaganda and be astonished by Ron Paul’s success – starting tomorrow.

2) The push to attack Iran will resume once the presidential primaries are decided. If Israel bombs Iran, they’ll do so after the primaries, but before President Bush leaves office.

3) Our economic woes will be worse than predicted.
This is pretty evident.

4) The price of gold will reach $1000/ounce.
See here.

5) The threat of child predators will be leveraged as an excuse to regulate the internet, or internet access.
See here, and here.

Freedom Santas

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) _ A group of Santa impersonators are on the naughty list of Arizona law enforcement officials.

A YouTube video posted Monday shows four people dressed as Kris Kringle, white beards and red hats included, covering three speed and red light enforcement cameras in Tempe.

Two are covered with boxes – one decorated with Christmas wrap – and the third is blocked with what appears to be a red sheet.

The Jackson 5’s “Santa Claus is coming to town” plays during the more than two-minute video.

At the end is a message that reads:

“Ho Ho Ho! Death to the surveillance state! Free movement for all people!”

The group that posted the video also wrote “lumps of coal to all of those who make it their business to watch and control.”
(from kfyi.com)

Where’d the bailout money go? Shhhh, it’s a secret

“We’ve lent some of it. We’ve not lent some of it. We’ve not given any accounting of, ‘Here’s how we’re doing it,'” said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. “We have not disclosed that to the public. We’re declining to.”

The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what’s the plan for the rest?

None of the banks provided specific answers. (Read more from news.yahoo.com)

Protecting Torture

“After urging Bush to fight the incoming administration’s desire to close Guantanamo, [neo-con chicken-hawk William] Kristol concludes with this:

‘One last thing: Bush should consider pardoning–and should at least be vociferously praising–everyone who served in good faith in the war on terror. . . . The CIA agents who waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the NSA officials who listened in on phone calls from Pakistan, should not have to worry about legal bills or public defamation. In fact, Bush might want to give some of these public servants the Medal of Freedom at the same time he bestows the honor on Generals Petraeus and Odierno. They deserve it.’

In the Bush era, the Medal of Freedom has come to absurdly represent a reward for those who carried out policy failures at the urging of the Bush administration. By this standard, the implementers of torture and warrantless wiretapping certainly qualify for such a medal. ” (Read more from thinkprogress.org)

“Rep. Reyes: Since Torture Might Be Necessary, Obama Should Keep Torture Apologists Hayden, McConnell Reyes dismissed concerns over Hayden and McConnell’s records as apologists for torture. He insisted that that ‘there are some options that need to be available’ to interrogators — presumably beyond the Army Field Manuel — to get the best information:

Regarding the CIA’s alternative interrogation program, Reyes indicated that his recommendations concerned finding a balance so the agency does not use torture but can get valuable information from suspected terrorists or other detainees.

‘There are those that believe that this particular issue has to be dealt with very carefully because there are beliefs that there are some options that need to be available,’ Reyes said.” (Read more from prisonplanet.com)

Over 650 Scientists Challenge Global Warming “Consensus” – quotes from scientists about global warming / clime changes

“Over 650 scientists have put their names to a US Senate Minority report that challenges the contention of the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change that there is a scientific “consensus” on the causes of global warming.” (Read more from infowars.net)


“I am a skeptic. . . Global warming has become a new religion.” – Nobel Prize Winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever.

“Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly. . . .As a scientist I remain skeptical.” – Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called “among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.”

Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in the history. . . When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” – UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.

“The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit; it doesn’t listen to others. It doesn’t have open minds. . . I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists,” – Indian geologist Dr. Arun D. Ahluwalia at Punjab University and a board member of the UN-supported International Year of the Planet.

“The models and forecasts of the UN IPCC “are incorrect because they only are based on mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity.” – Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

“It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.” – U.S Government Atmospheric Scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA.

“Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact, as water vapour and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will.” ” . Geoffrey G. Duffy, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland, NZ.

“After reading [UN IPCC chairman] Pachauri’s asinine comment [comparing skeptics to] Flat Earthers, it’s hard to remain quiet.” – Climate statistician Dr. William M. Briggs, who specializes in the statistics of forecast evaluation, serves on the American Meteorological Society’s Probability and Statistics Committee and is an Associate Editor of Monthly Weather Review.

“For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on?” – Geologist Dr. David Gee the chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress who has authored 130 plus peer reviewed papers, and is currently at Uppsala University in Sweden.

“Gore prompted me to start delving into the science again and I quickly found myself solidly in the skeptic camp. . . Climate models can at best be useful for explaining climate changes after the fact.” – Meteorologist Hajo Smit of Holland, who reversed his belief in man-made warming to become a skeptic, is a former member of the Dutch UN IPCC committee.

“Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined.” – Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh.

“Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is a dangerous nonsense. . . The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control, a pretext for major businesses and political battle. It became an ideology, which is concerning.” – Environmental Scientist Professor Delgado Domingos of Portugal, the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast group, has more than 150 published articles.

See also:

–EU carbon trading system brings windfalls for some, with little benefit to climate

Where does money come from?

UPDATE: This popular video is incorrect in several respects. Bankers do not end up owning everything. They certainly profit from the transactions, but they sell their debts. $1,111.11 simply does not create $100k of new money in the banking system. The proposals at the end are sorely misguided. For accurate criticism of the monetary system, go to mises.org.

I’ve watched this educational cartoon approximately five times since discovering it a few months ago. It presents the simple, tragic absurdity of our monetary system.

For example, most people believe that if individuals, companies, governments all saved and got out of debt, society would be prosperous, when the opposite is true. If everyone began saving and paying off their debts, there would be no money. Money is debt. Without debt, there is no money.

Watch at least the first three parts for an explanation of this. As an aid, I summarize each part and transcribe the many great quotes presented in the videos.

Part 1

-Early banking.
-The shift of currency from gold to paper.
-The shift of goldsmiths from artisans to bankers.
-The evolution of lending gold, to lending depositors gold, to lending non-existant gold.
-Runs on the bank.
-Government legalizes lending fictional money.
-The advent of the fractional reserve system.
-Central banks supporting local banks.

“Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.”
– Woodrow Wilson

“Each and every time a bank makes a loan, new bank credit is created – new deposits – brand new money.”
– Graham F. Towers Governor, Bank of Canada 1934-54

“The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.”
– John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist

“Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”
– Mayer Anselm Rothschild, Banker

I’m certain this diverges with the Austrian Economic point of view. I’ve heard this video series called socialist because it proposes government control of the monetary supply. I think the first two and half parts are an effective expose on the banking system. The ending is suspect.

See the rest:

part2
part3
part4
part5